Bearing end construction



Nov. 28, 1961 J. c. LAYTON BEARING END CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 3, 1958 J. G. LAYTON IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent ()fiice 3,910,569 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 3,010,669 BEARING END CONSTRUCTION I. C. Layton, Montebello, Calif., assignor to Towlsaver, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Nov. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 771,499 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-552) This invention relates to a bearing end construction and, more particularly, to a bearing end construction adapted to be utilized in supporting a roll of web or sheet material such as paper toweling, toilet tissue, or the like in operative relationship with the housing of a dispenser with which the roll of material is associated.

Roll material, such as paper toweling or toilet tissue, must be subject to ready and easy installation in the cabinet of the dispenser from which it is to be dispensed and must be readily rotatable within the cabinet to accomplish the dispensing of toweling or tissue from the roll. To facilitate such dispensing of toweling or tissue from the roll and from the associated cabinet of the dispenser, it is desirable that the bearing end construction supporting the roll permit the toweling or tissue to be withdrawn therefrom with a minimum of efiort and in the most expeditious manner possible.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a bearing end construction for a roll of material, such as paper toweling or toilet tissue, which is adapted to be associated with the cabinet or housing of a dispenser whereby the material of the roll may be readily and easily removed from said roll.

Dispensers for paper toweling and toilet tissue are usually serviced at regular intervals by janitorial services and it frequently happens that the roll of tissue or toweling installed in the cabinet of a dispenser will be consumed to the extent that replacement thereof to permit continued supply of toweling or tissue until the next visit of the janitor is indicated. Therefore, the remainder of the toweling or tissue on the roll is frequently discarded or, occasionally, the partially exhausted roll is permitted to remain in the cabinet of the dispenser and the supply becomes exhausted before the next visit of the janitorial servicemen.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a bearing end construction for a roll of material wherein the bearing end incorporates means providing an indica tion to the Serviceman of the imminent exhaustion of the roll of toweling or tissue located in the dispensing cabinet. When such indication is presented to the serviceman, the roll of toweling or tissue can be removed from operative relationship with the bearing end construction and can, if the dispenser provides means therefor, be placed in an auxiliary receptacle in the cabinet of the dispenser.

A full roll of toweling or tissue can then be installed upon the bearing end construction and the two Webs of the full and nearly exhausted rolls are threaded through the dispensing mechanism. In this manner, a user of the towel dispenser will receive a double supply of toweling until the partially exhausted roll is completely depleted and the waste of toweling or premature exhaustion of toweling is eliminated.

A typical toweling dispenser in which the bearing end construction of my invention can be utilized is shown in my copending application for Roll Supporting Construction, Serial No. 708,109, filed January 10, 1958, and includes, as best shown in FIG. 1 of said application, means for supporting the partially exhausted roll of toweling in the manner described hereinabove.

Moreover, the bearing end construction of my invention is particularly adapted for use in a toilet tissue dispenser of the character of that disclosed in the copending application of Council A. Tucker, Serial No.

714,545, filed February 11, 1958, and entitled Dispenser for a Plurality of Rolls of Materia which issued into Patent No. 2,908,451 on October 13, 1959. In a toilet tissue dispenser of the character disclosed in said application, the bearing end construction can be incorporated in the partition means constituted by the contiguous, pivotally mounted arms of the toilet tissue dispenser.

One of the problems encountered in the dispensing of roll material from the roll is the fact that the roll will continue its rotation on the associated supports of the dispenser cabinet after a sufficient supply of material has been discharged therefrom. When this occurs, the material in excess of that necessarily utilized by the person operating the cabinet is wasted or, in the case of paper toweling dispensers, may cause malfunctioning of the associated dispenser due to the jamming of the excess material in the dispensing mechanism thereof.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a bearing end construction for supporting a roll of material in a dispensing cabinet which includes auxiliary hearing means adapted to act as a brake upon the roll of material associated therewith, thus preventing excessively fast rotation of the roll on the associated bearing end construction and eliminating the possibility that overrunning of the roll will cause an excess discharge of material and resultant wastage thereof.

Another object of my invention is a bearing end construction of the aforementioned character which can be fabricated at a relatively low cost and which can be insorted in operative relationship with the adjacent end of an associated roll of material. Therefore, during the installation process it is merely necessary to push the roll of material over the bearing end construction and the roll of material will automatically seat thereupon.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing which is for the purpose of illus tration only and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the bearing end construction incorporated in a mounting arm of the character of those mounting arms 82 disclosed in the above mentioned copending application, Serial No. 714,545;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the bearing end construction; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional View taken on the broken line 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, I show a bearing end construction 10 incorporating the teachings of my invention and including a body 12 formed from sheet metal which is generally triangular in plan, as best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing. The body 12 incorporates mounting lugs 14 on its inner extremity and said lugs are adapted to be received in appropriate openings in a toilet tissue dispenser cabinet, such as that disclosed in copending application Serial No. 714,545. Therefore, the body 12 is adapted to serve the function of one of the mounting arms 82 of said dispenser.

Also provided on the body 12 is a guide lug or tab 16 located at the forward extremity of said body and adapted to be engaged by a co-operative member, not shown, on the associated toilet tissue dispenser to urge the body 12 into engagement with an associated roll of toilet tissue such as the roll 20 shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing.

Formed integrally with the body 12 is a first bearing 22 which is constituted by a cylindrical boss 24 extend ing axial-1y of the body 12 and having a rearwardly inclined top wall 26 engageable by the end of the roll 20 during the installation of said roll in operative relationship upon the bearing end construction 10, in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

Adjacent, but spaced from, the first bearing 22 is a second bearing 32, said second bearing being constituted by a spaced pair of flanges 34 which, as best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, are arcuately formed and which have their inner surfaces spaced from the peripheral wall 36 of the cylindrical boss 24 to define a receptor space 38 of arcuate configuration, as best howri in FIG. 2 of the drawing.

The roll 20 of toilet tissue, which could also be a roll of paper toweling, has an elongated bore 40 therein which is located centrally thereof and, in most instances, receives a core 42 formed of heavier stock than the tissue or toweling itself. The first bearing 22 is of a diameter slightly less than internal diameter of the core 42 to facilitate its being inserted in the associated extremity of said core, as best illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing, and thus is adapted to provide a support for the roll 20 of toilet tissue. The extremity of the core 42 is receivable in the receptor space 38 to permit relative rotation of said extremity with reference to the bearing end construction 10.

A circular recess 46 is formed in the end of the toilet tissue 48 and is adapted to, receive the angularly bent flanges34 constituting the second bearing 32. When the flanges 34 are located in the recess 46, the arcuate configuration thereof permits them to conform to the circular configuration of the recess 46 and the inner edges thereof are adapted to engage the wall 50 of the recess as defined by the superimposed layers of tissue.

Therefore, when the roll 20 of tissue 48 is rotated with reference to the bearing end construction 10, the juxtaposed extremities of the flanges 34 will engage corresponding portions of the Wall 50'of the recess 46 and serve to slightly retard the rotation of the roll 20, thus acting as a brake to prevent over-travel of said roll and the discharge of excessive amounts of tissue.

Furthermore, as the amount of tissue 48 upon the roll 20 reaches the point of exhaustion, the angularly bent flanges 34 of the second bearing 32 will be exposed to the janitor serving the dispenser in which the bearing end construction is incorporated, thus adequately notifying the janitor that replenishment of the dispenser by substitution of another roll is indicated.

Furthermore, the bearing end construction 10 greatly facilitates the installation of the associated rolls 20 within the dispenser in which the bearing end construction is installed. This is attributable to the fact that the bearing end construction .10 will deflect automatically on its pivotal supporting lugs 14 as the roll 20 is installed in operative relationship therewith. Due to the inclination of the top wall 26 of the cylindrical boss 24 of the first bearing 22, the'initial deflection of the bearing end construction 10 is greatest as the juxtaposed extremity of the core 42 engages said top wall. However, as the juxta posed extremity of the core 42 moves across the top wall 26 toward the receptor space 38, the inward inclination of said top wall permits the gradual inward movement of the cylindrical boss 24 constiuting the first bearing 22 into the associated extremity of the core 42.

When the edge of the core 42 reaches the receptor space 38, further movement of said core therepast is obstructed by the angularly directed flanges 34 constituting the second bearing 32 and the flanges 34 are automati cally located within the recess 46.

Removal of an exhausted roll 20 from operative relationship with the bearing end construction 10 is also facilitated because of the fact that once the edge of the core 42 located in the receptor space 38 is removed from operative relationship therewith and said edge engages the inclined top wall 26 of the cylindrical boss 24, the cylindrical boss 24 is automatically deflected to the left as viewed in FIG. 3 of the drawing and thus is automatically ejected from operative relationship with the end of the core 42.

I thus provide by my invention a composite bearing end construction wherein the first bearing is associated with a second bearing adapted to serve as an auxiliary bearing and supporting the associated extremity of a roll of toilet tissue or paper toweling and wherein control of rotation of the roll is achieved simultaneously with the support thereof. Furthermore, visual indication of the exhaustion of the material upon the roll is presented by the second, auxiliary bearing of the bearing end construction.

I claim:

1. A hearing end construction for use in conjunction with a roll of material incorporating a centrally located hollow core and having a continuous recess formed in said material at one end of said roll adjacent and en compassing said core, said bearing end construction being mountable upon a wall of a dispenser for said material, including a stamped unitary body, said body having a cylindrical bearing formed thereupon, and a second bearing spaced from said first bearing, said second bearing being constituted by a plurality of spaced tabs punched outwardly from said body and extending in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said first bearing and being spaced from said first bearing to define a receptacle for the reception of said core, said spaced tabs being formed on a radius concentric with the radius of said first bearing, said first bearing being adapted to be received in the adjacent extremity of said core and said second bearing being adapted to be received in the recess in said material.

2. A hearing construction for a roll of towelling including a unitary, stamped body of substantially triangular configuration, said stamped body having a cylindrical bearing formed upon an extremity thereof and projecting therefrom on an axis normal to the plane of said body, said body incorporating a plurality of outwardly punched tabs defining a second bearing, said tabs being spaced from said first bearing to' define a receptacle therebetween.

i 3. A hearing construction fora roll of toweling including a unitary body, said body having a cylindrical bearing formed thereupon and projectingtherefrom on an axis normal to the plane of said body, .said body incorporating a plurality of outwardly directed --tabs defining a second bearing, saidtabsbeing spaced-from said first bearing to define a receptacle therebetween and a guide lug formed integrally with said body and adapted to be engaged to deflect said body and urge said first bearing into a corresponding opening in an adjacent extremity of said roll and the tabs into a corresponding recess in the roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS V Leitch Nov. 29, .1910

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